Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2013 - (Page 66)

FA M I LY T R AV E L I thought about farming and the way fresh food is returning to its rightful place in our lives. GOOD E ART H Clockwise from top left: The white building where the volunteers first gathered; Thayer, Azalea and Bethany make sure their potatoes are evenly spaced; one of the farm’s tractors. 66 W W W. R I T Z C A R LT O N . C O M confused. We knew the day was supposed to be devoted to onion planting, but we hadn’t considered the onions themselves. I’d had the vague assumption that the onions would be in seed form, but apparently I was wrong about that, too. As we drank coffee and munched on pastries in the breezeway of the outbuilding, David explained that, while most of the vegetables grown on the farm are from seeds germinated in the greenhouse, others are planted as bulbs. That was the case with the onions, which had been shipped from Texas but had not made it into the early shipment — they were coming later. He told us that we would plant potatoes instead, holding up a long ﬂat stick with evenly spaced marks on it. We would lay this stick alongside the tilled soil, and it would indicate where to place the fully mature potatoes. Thayer loved listening to the nuts and bolts direction, and Azalea — like the rest of us — was ready to get started. Our ﬁrst stop? The ﬂatbed-truck manure station. A few lucky ones got to stand on top of the pile, shoveling it into our buckets, which we carried into the ﬁeld. Azalea lugged her bucket, Thayer and I helping as we grabbed our own. The three of us settled into a little plot, scattered the fertilizer, and planted purple potatoes, which eventually would sprout into potato plants. Lay the yardstick down, place the tater in the ground. Slide the stick. Remove hood. Look at sky. Listen to the quiet chatter of your fellow farmers. Repeat. Kids love nothing more than doing something fun and getting attention while doing it. Azalea is not the earthiest kid in the world, but how could she not enjoy crouching in the dirt, tossing one of her favorite foods into the ground, both of her parents at her side, and surrounded by friendly folks? Even so, in an hour or two, she started singing random songs, talking to herself, rambling off into her play realm, asking to get her Barbies out of the car. We were losing her. Looking around for ideas, I asked one of the farm’s apprentices, Audrey Berman, if we could get a tour of the property. She got David’s permission and away we went. Barbies stuffed in Azalea’s pockets, we walked to the greenhouse, where we saw baby lettuces http://WWW.RITZCARLTON.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2013

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2013
Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President’s Letter
Falling in Love With … New Orleans
Design
Technology
On the Boulevards
Shopping
Jewelry
Watches
Family
Local Knowledge
Sports
Cancun
Doha
Fashion
Culinary
Let Us Stay with You
Heritage

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2013